Vaughn Palmer: Doyle battle the latest in a long series over auditors general appointments

Premier Christy Clark said Wednesday she is looking to extend the term of auditor general from six to eight years and limit it to a single term.Photo by
Jenelle Schneider Jenelle Schneider

VICTORIA — The idea of appointing the B.C. auditor general to a single non-renewable term to eliminate any shenanigans over his or her reappointment has been around for a long time.

Twenty years ago this summer, the finance minister in the then New Democratic Party government, Glen Clark, tried to head off a second term for the then auditor general George Morfitt by striking a committee to look for a successor.

Clark, unimpressed by what he saw as Morfitt’s timid and technocratic approach as watchdog on provincial finances, didn’t even tell the incumbent in advance that his job would be up for grabs.

Morfitt went ahead and applied for reappointment anyway, in effect daring the NDP to fire him.

Instead, after much speculation and the spending of some $20,000 on trying to recruit alternatives, the selection committee concluded, however grudgingly, that the incumbent was the best candidate for the job.

But in the course of unanimously recommending Morfitt to the legislature for a second term, the committee — seven New Democrats, three B.C. Liberals and a lonely Socred — also said “never again.”

“There is a perceived impediment to the process of a legislative committee undertaking this task with an incumbent in office,” read the final report. “Protocol and professional ethics can strain the relationship between the auditor general and the legislature and can hamper both the committee and the office in carrying out their respective duties.”

In lieu of ever putting MLAs and/or future office holders in a compromising position again, the committee said the Auditor General Act should be rewritten to establish a single term of 10-12 years with no opportunity (and thus no temptations) of reappointment.

The recommendation went nowhere. Meanwhile, Morfitt proceeded to devote his second term to a series of exposes on NDP initiatives — fudge-it budgets, fast ferries, forest renewal funding — that dispelled any notion of him being soft.

Nearing the end of his second term, he withdrew his name for consideration for a third. The New Democrats, then nearing their own second term of office, established an all-party selection committee that vetted some 30 candidates and unanimously recommended Wayne Strelioff, the long-serving auditor of the province of Saskatchewan.

The Liberals, after taking office in 2001, did tighten up the appointment process for the auditor general. But instead of the single non-renewable term, they allowed an all-party selection committee to recommend reappointment to a second term of “up to six years.”

Supposedly that was going to rein in the controversy as well, but it didn’t. The Liberals didn’t much like Strelioff and balked at offering him a second term.

Instead, an all-party selection committee hired a headhunting firm that produced a short list of candidates, none of whom obtained the necessary unanimous approval from government and Opposition members.

Amid the deadlock, the provincial comptroller-general, Arn van Iersel was installed on a temporary basis. But from the outset there were concerns that the in-house bookkeeper would now be passing judgment on his own accounts and he surrendered the job on his own initiative after a year or so.

The selection committee had a second go at the process and eventually came up with John Doyle, who’d been serving as auditor general in the state of Western Australia.

Taking up his duties in mid-2007, Doyle began making enemies among the Liberals almost immediately by (as they saw it) exceeding his authority and overstating his findings.

By the time he announced his interest in a second term late last year, the government MLAs were determined to block him. To all appearances they did so by withholding the necessary unanimous approval for reappointment by the selection committee.

The resulting public outrage got the Liberals off to a bad start in a year where they only have a matter of weeks (17 as of Tuesday) to close the gap on the opinion-poll-leading New Democrats before voting day.

Stung by the fallout, Premier Christy Clark attempted Wednesday to contain the damage. The selection process was flawed she declared, seizing on the notion that the auditor general should be appointed to a single non-renewable term.

“I do not believe it’s the right process when we have independent officers of the legislature like this one, who are in a natural conflict with the government, to every six years be coming in and perhaps asking to have their job back,” she added in an uncanny echo of what another selection committee had said almost 20 years ago.

Promising that the legislation would be amended accordingly when the house sits in February, she then suggested that the selection committee find some way to reverse itself and offer Doyle a two-year extension, making for a single eight-year term.

The New Democrats, who’d been calling for a reversal, claimed victory, then reached for the other half of the loaf. Doyle should get another six years, not a two-year extension, said party leader Adrian Dix.

The committee, for its part, is scheduled to take up the issue on Friday. Between Clark’s two years and Dix’s six, perhaps a four-year extension would be in order, presuming Doyle is interested and the two parties can sort out the technicalities.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.